1. Field of the Invention
An oil spill detection system to detect and locate oil spillage in a body of water.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Oil spills, large and small, are among today's most environmentally damaging events. Even relatively small spills that normally go undetected can wreck havoc with the ecosystem. Early detection is vital in containing and cleaning up oil spills before such spills reach populated areas, protected coastal environments and inland waterways.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,719,936 discloses a system for the detection of oil spillage in water including a housing adapted to be disposed in a partially submerged buoyant state in a body of water and having a plurality of ports to allow entry of water and oil that is present on the surface thereof. A selectively transmissive permeable membrane of the hydrophobic hypophylic type is disposed within the housing in liquid communication with the oil-water interface. Only oil is transmitted through the permeable membrane to a chamber within the housing having a sensor disposed therein to detect the presence of oil and to generate an output signal of the oil when detected. The sensor comprises a resistance temperature dependent electrical thermometer or mechanically actuable by the weight of oil within the chamber to generate the output signal. The chamber can be removed from the detection system to permit collection of oil samples for analysis to determine the nature and source of the contaminant. In addition, a plurality of chambers can be provided to permit the sequential collection of a corresponding plurality of oil samples over time. A marking material can also be released to visually mark the spill site.